White Boats are reappearing.

[Povremeni pomorac]

I got so many things wrong about the pandemic, though I also got a larger number right. I was really surprised at how used boats sold like hot cakes. I was expecting a crash in the market. With the rerospectoscope (always the best nautical instrument) I can see that people being furloughed are not, generally, those who buy boats, and there must have been a lot of people who "took the plunge" having been thinking about a boat for some time, and perhaps the lack of foreign travel was a factor too? Well, now we're well and truly into autumn it seems the adverts are appearing. Certainly not the time to buy a boat I suspect, but I wonder if anyone has head stories of people who've bought one, and now realise it was a mistake, or maybe did what they wanted, and now are hoping to get out of boating?
I appreciate that there will be as many opinions as to what is going on, as there are sailors or potential sailors. I don't mind people voicing their opinions here, but it would be nice to know if there are any personal experiences where people have known of cases from their own circle/family/chums/club or marina.
As someone who only browses the adverts from time to time, I don't know whether the ones we are seeing now are fairly normal for the time of year?

 

[Just_sayin']

I had a Discovery so you might be able to guess the price.

Sold it as soon as I realised that I couldn't use it ... marinas booked solid, France off-limits etc.

The A.I.S has been on since. The buyers spent a few nights anchored in The Solent, got into Cowes once mid-week and had a few day sails.

Now ashore since July ??

 

[Sandy]

I got so many things wrong about the pandemic, though I also got a larger number right. I was really surprised at how used boats sold like hot cakes. I was expecting a crash in the market. With the rerospectoscope (always the best nautical instrument) I can see that people being furloughed are not, generally, those who buy boats, and there must have been a lot of people who "took the plunge" having been thinking about a boat for some time, and perhaps the lack of foreign travel was a factor too? Well, now we're well and truly into autumn it seems the adverts are appearing. Certainly not the time to buy a boat I suspect, but I wonder if anyone has head stories of people who've bought one, and now realise it was a mistake, or maybe did what they wanted, and now are hoping to get out of boating?
I appreciate that there will be as many opinions as to what is going on, as there are sailors or potential sailors. I don't mind people voicing their opinions here, but it would be nice to know if there are any personal experiences where people have known of cases from their own circle/family/chums/club or marina.
As someone who only browses the adverts from time to time, I don't know whether the ones we are seeing now are fairly normal for the time of year?

Two boats were sold in the marina this year, both were paid for within 24 hours of them being listed and sailed away within the week.

Several friends are expecting a crash in prices in 48 months when the new owners realise a boat is not just for summer. I'm considering picking up a really cheap boat and using it for spares.

 

[Sianna]

After crewing a family boat (a Moody 45) for a number of years I finally bought my first boat last July (2020), thinking (wrongly) the boat market would dip with CoVid and we could pick up a bit of a bargain, (how my wife laughs about this when she recounts it to everyone who will listen) however we were very lucky to find a good boat for sensible money just before the market really went silly.

I'm sure foreign travel has made people reassess how they spend their "free" money but you only have to look at the sales of motorhomes, caravans and beach huts to see that people are spending in the home market rather than abroad. Maybe not just CoVid but Brexit as well??

It will be interesting to see if the boat bubble bursts or just stays static for a few years, on "my" pontoon the closest 3 boats are all first time owners, with each spending between £120-£240k on brand new boats so as you say not the furloughed people.

Could I sell our boat for more than we paid, at the moment definitely, the broker we bought from has recently offered me more than we paid but do I want to sell, not a chance.

 

[roblpm]

After crewing a family boat (a Moody 45) for a number of years I finally bought my first boat last July (2020), thinking (wrongly) the boat market would dip with CoVid and we could pick up a bit of a bargain, (how my wife laughs about this when she recounts it to everyone who will listen) however we were very lucky to find a good boat for sensible money just before the market really went silly.

I'm sure foreign travel has made people reassess how they spend their "free" money but you only have to look at the sales of motorhomes, caravans and beach huts to see that people are spending in the home market rather than abroad. Maybe not just CoVid but Brexit as well??

It will be interesting to see if the boat bubble bursts or just stays static for a few years, on "my" pontoon the closest 3 boats are all first time owners, with each spending between £120-£240k on brand new boats so as you say not the furloughed people.

Could I sell our boat for more than we paid, at the moment definitely, the broker we bought from has recently offered me more than we paid but do I want to sell, not a chance.

UK boats will stay high as the vat situation now means buying in the EU and bringing here gives a 20% uplift. As we don't manufacture many boats I can't see the prices dropping much. Its totally irritating as I sold a boat 3 years ago intending to purchase again about now! I think I will end up buying in EU or Caribbean and never bring to the UK.

 

[MoodySabre]

The surge in prices were due to staycation and a cheap way of having a regular "country cottage" at reasonable cost. Marinas are full of boats that don't go anywhere hence the difficulty of getting a visitors berth for those of us who do.

 

[Birdseye]

Going to be interesting to see what happens. I sold my boat mid summer and every buyer who contacted me was thinking in terms of either liveaboard or cruising as a substitute for their previous foreign holidays. Most of them werent realistic at all. But it wasnt just boats, was it? Houses have shot up. So have both classic cars and supercars.

There is lots of money around - the HoL reckons that the governments covid handouts have been defrauded to the tune of £40bn though I dont know how they calculate this. But certainly money has been thrown about and mostly it seems to have gone to people like us rather than the single mums living in tower blocks. Honestly, are you not financially better off than before Covid?

I dont know if the market will change much. When you can pay £400k for a Bendytoy, decent quality second hands are not going to be cheap.